IR TV Review: STAR TREK - DISCOVERY - EPISODE 8 (“Labyrinths”) [Paramount+-S5]

The texture of survival rests in the self. "Star Trek: Discovery" in its name by trade speaks to that. The essence of Michael Burnham has always been about transformation. The tricky part with this show now is that it is at times less than organic. It is about the team but sometimes overtly so. The rage that was in Burnham is gone. You can see the tactical but she doesn't often break down and what she does it is always self diagnosis in a way. She does here and it works in her favor but it is diametrically a construct that seems too much to be leaning towards e position without saying what it really is. The Archive for example in the current episode is in a more linerar form of how Michael eventually accesses her emotions, like Nolan's Tesserack from "Interstellar". It embraces a phiolosophy to show your true self but it is so close to the end that if Burnham's journey is not clear yet, it might never be.

Discovery for many of the characters is an intense therapy session that never quite gets a time to laugh at itself. That decompression is something it never quite had. Tilly brings a bit of that but not enought to fully counterbalance. "Strange New Worlds" can laugh at its itself but that is something "Discovery" really never allowed itself to do (except with Georgio at times). Even the new Commander is getting drawn into it. "Discovery" about redemption. With this episode (Ep 8 Season 5) entitled "Labyrinths" it is about a sense of the self but it almost tries too hard. The interesting context is seeing Eve Harlow transform as Moll. She has become what she was trying to escape. Her essence is actually much more dynamic than the main story because it shows people failing. Most of the characters on the Discovery never fully fall down and that, in a way, takes away the stakes. B

By Tim Wassberg